Decide What Matters - Then Never Give Up On It!

4/27/2021

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us...”

Witnesses: “one who can give information or confirm”

Throw off every “weight”: a tumor or mass or burden

Sin “so easily besets”: the sin so full of peril, which so easily subjects one to calamity

ὑπομονή “Perseverance”: “quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances, or succumb under trial.”

I like the perseverance “does not allow one to surrender” vs common perception of “allows one to grind through it”. That's a totally different feeling!

I was talking with a brother about that definition of perseverance and he mentioned that it’s not about “it’s easy for some and hard for others” OR “never quitting is good and right, so never quit.”...

Instead, there are two parts to this:
1) Deciding what matters. THEN:
2) Never quitting on THAT.

Quitting on stuff that doesn’t matter or that you shouldn’t be doing anyway... is fine and should be done. So, “be a quitter” on things that don’t matter. But, decide what DOES matter, what IS true, what you SHOULD be doing… and then persevere!

So, it’s not human bravado or ego of “I never quit on anything” ... “I’m a persevering superhero!”... RATHER, it’s deciding what MATTERS and then not giving up on that... By CHOICE, not super-heroics. CHOICE to decide what matters and then CHOICE to not give up on it, regardless of how I feel at the moment...

NOBODY is “advantaged” in this regard and ALL must make those difficult choices... BOTH of them.

Last night we were talking about what makes a hero of faith. It’s not someone who is strong enough to “get through it” but someone who Surrenders to His Grace/Provision that He is holding out and offering us.